The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) revealed the groups and dates for the XVII WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup Group Stage, which will be played from July 11-26, 2023 in Ireland, Spain and Italy under the new Two-Stage format.
“The XVII Women’s Softball World Cup represents the return of the premier international women's softball event to European soil, a demonstration of the development of softball on the continent with three countries passionate about sport - Ireland, Italy and Spain - hosting this major softball event for the first time in their history,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “This breakthrough event will be a milestone for our organisation, with the debut of the Two-Stage tournaments, providing more opportunities for teams to participate and for countries to host events like these.”
To open the XVII Women’s Softball World Cup, an expanded number of 18 teams representing the five Olympic continents have been drawn into three groups of six teams with each group competing in a different location.
The XVII WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup begins in Dublin, Ireland for Group A from July 11-15, 2023. The international competition continues for Group B in Valencia, Spain from July 18-22, 2023 before Group C commences in Castions di Strada and Buttrio, Italy from July 22-26, 2023. The groups are as follows:
- Group A: Ireland (host), Australia, Great Britain, USA, Africa 2 and Asia 3.
- Group B: Spain (host), Cuba, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Africa 1 and Asia 2.
- Group C: Italy (host), Canada, New Zealand, Venezuela, Asia 1 and a wild card.
The top two teams from each group of the Group Stage, plus two wild cards, will advance to the eight-team World Cup Finals in Castions di Strada and Buttrio, Italy in 2024.
The wild cards designation criteria for the Finals are (in order):
- Criteria 1: One Wild Card spot secured for host country;
- Criteria 2: Top third-place team(s) in the Group Stage, based on final standings from the previous edition of the World Cup;
- Criteria 3: Top third-place team(s) in the Group Stage based on the highest position in the WBSC Rankings at the end of the previous calendar year.
The competition format of the Group Stage and the Finals will also be announced at a later stage. This is first time that Ireland, Spain and Italy host a Softball World Cup in any category, and the second time that the Women’s Softball World Cup is played in Europe.
FIBS President Andrea Marcon said, "It's a great honor to be part of this historic moment with the first Softball World Cup in a two-stage format taking place in Europe and in my country. Of course, it is also a great responsibility, but it is equally certain that we will be hosted by local authorities which have a great tradition of hosting major events, This is why I renew my invitation to fans from all over the world to come to Friuli Venezia Giulia and enjoy sporting excellence and the local culture, scenery and food and wine of Italy that await them with open arms-" Forza #Italia!
by Roberto Angotti
